High school food fight ends with felony charge

A Phoenix-area high school student faces a felony charge after a senior prank food fight got out of hand.

The messy food fight in May happened during the lunch hour at Horizon High School in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Prosecutors have charged Conner Floyd-Elsesser with aggravated assault on a teacher, according to azfamily.com. Aggravated assault is a felony.

Conner Floyd-Elsesser, who was a freshman at the time of the incident, told the TV station he was trying to leave the cafeteria when he was tackled by two teachers.

"I was in defense mode, I was in fetal position, I was shocked. ... I'm on my back getting hit in my left side right in the gut," he said. The teen is now a sophomore at a different school.

According to the police report, one teacher said the student tackled and knocked him to the ground.

A grainy cellphone video shows Conner Floyd-Elsesser, in a bright yellow shirt, on the ground and the teachers hovering over him. The short clip does not show what happened before the student was on the ground.

The county prosecutor is moving forward with the charge, which could lead to a trial because the teen did not admit fault and accept a diversion program, which would have dropped the charge, azfamily.com reports.

Jason Lamm, the student's attorney, said, "Connor didn't do anything wrong. He didn't assault that teacher—in fact it's the opposite. So there was no reason to admit responsibility and therefore he wasn't going to participate in diversion."

Horizon High School issued a statement last week saying, "The county attorney's office acted appropriately to investigate and hold any individuals accountable for their actions." The school noted, too, the food fight was "a dangerous, physical assault that put the safety of hundreds of students and staff members at risk."